OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 395 brother^ which might be no more than the symptoms of a childish affection^ -were'* universally attributed to incestuous love. On a sudden, by some base intrigues of a steward and a nurse, this excessive fondness was converted into an irreconcileable quaiTcl ; the debates of the emperor and his sister were not long confined within the walls of the palace ; and, as the Gothic soldiers adhered to their queen, the city of Ravenna was agitated with bloody and dangerous tumults, which could only be ap- peased by the forced or voluntary retreat of Placidia and her children. The royal exiles landed at Constantinople, soon after the marriage of Theodosius, during the festival of the Persian victories. They were treated with kindness and magnificence ; but, as the statues of the emperor Constantius had been rejected by the Eastern court, the title of Augusta could not decently be allowed to his widow. Within a few months after the arrival of Placidia, a swift messenger announced the death of Honorius, the consequence of a dropsy; but' the important secret was not divulged, till the necessary orders had been dispatched for the march of a large body of troops to the sea-coast of Dalmatia. The shops and the gates of Constantinople remained shut during seven days ; and the loss of a foreign prince, who could neither be esteemed nor regretted, was celebrated with loud and affected demonstrations of the public grief While the ministers of Constantinople deliberated, the vacant Elevation and 1 r XT Till f fall of the throne oi Honorius was usui-ped bv the ambition or a stranger, "s^" John. The name of the rebel was John ; he filled the confidential office of Primicerius, or principal secretary ; and history has at- tributed to his character more virtues than can easily be recon- ciled with the violation of the most sacred duty. Elated by the submission of Italy and the hope of an alliance with the Huns, John presumed to insult, by an embassy, the majesty of the Eastern emperor ; but, when he understood that his agents had been banished, imprisoned, and at length chased away with . deserved ignominy, John prepared to assert, by arms, the injustice of his claims. In such a cause, the grandson of the great Theo- dosius should have marched in person ; but the young emperor was easily diverted, by his physicians, from so rash and hazardous a design ; and the conduct of the Italian expedition was pru- Mahomet bestowed on his dau^^hter Phatemah. Quando (says the prophet him- self) quandosubit mihi desiderium Paradisi, osculor earn, et ingero Hnguam meam in OS ejus. But this sensual indulgence was justified by miracle and mystery ; and the anecdote has been communicated to the public by the Reverend Father Maracci, in his Version and Confutation of the Koran, torn. i. p. 32. 2a Sympto>ns in the relative clause seems to have caused the irregular plural. j
